The Art of Forgiveness
by hsds
Summary: The summer after Toby's wedding is eye-opening and wonderful for Bay/Emmett as Bay masters the art of forgiveness. This is a one-shot.


**The Art of Forgiveness**

**Fandom:** Switched at Birth

**Couple:** Bay/Emmett

**Summary:** The summer after Toby's wedding is eye-opening and wonderful for Bay/Emmett as Bay masters the art of forgiveness. This is a one-shot.

**Author's Note:** It's not very long, but I hope you guys like it. This is my first foray into writing BE

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Bay runs to Emmett with tears streaming down her face. It's happened again and she will never quite understand why guys do this. This time it's not as heartbreaking, she is just angry and confused. What is it about guys that make them want to stray? Is she not gorgeous enough? Sexy enough? She knows she needs answers, but more than that she needs him. Her heart beats wildly as she knocks on his door. Her breath hitches when he opens the door and she walks past him like she's done a million times before.

"Bay? What's wrong?"He signs as he looks at her with worry.

"Why do guys cheat?"She signs back.

His face falls and she sees the flash of anger and a part of her is glad. It proves that he still cares despite the fact that she has pushed him away time and time again. "Once he realized what he lost, he will spend of the rest of his life regretting his mistake,"Emmett signs as he looks at her with sadness. She knows he isn't speaking of Ty, but of himself and before she realizes it Bay is crying. Emmett wraps his arms around her and soothes her with the feel of his hands on her back. She wants nothing more than to kiss him. She misses him and it's not because of what Ty has done, but because she realizes he didn't mean as much to her as she once thought. That evening was the beginning of something. She spent the evening on his couch eating popcorn and watching Deafenstein with him as they laughed at how bad it was. By the end of the movie, her eyes are heavy and before she realizes it she's fallen asleep on his shoulder.

Their arms are wrapped around each other one his mother finds them the next morning. She gives Emmett a knowing look as Bay hurriedly straightens her dress and rushes home before her parents realize she's gone.

Her parents are waiting for her in her room when she finally makes it home. They lecture her about responsibility and how she worried them. She attempts to explain where she's been, but as usual they don't let her get in a word edge-wise. Eventually, they leave and she slips out of her clothes and hops into the shower. As the warm water cascades down her back, she can't help but recall the feel of being in Emmett's arms again. It felt good, but it's not time, but for once the idea of being with him again doesn't make her want to run far far away. Daphne comes into her room as she is brushing her hair. "Where have you been all night?"she asks.

"With Emmett,"she signs.

Daphne gives her a look and Bay immediately brushes it off, but she can tell that Daphne isn't buying it. Once she leaves, Bay slips under the covers and turns off the lights. It's daylight, but she is still tired. Just as she's about to nod off, she gets a text from Emmett. "You get home safe," he asks.

She quickly texts him a reply and before she realizes it's two hours later and she hasn't slept a wink. Bay puts away the phone and sleeps until her mother comes to wake her for dinner.

Bay and Emmett spend the first weeks of summer getting back into the groove of their friendship. They spend their days riding on the back of his motorcycle as they try to find places for her street art. He stands back and watches with a small on his face as she puts up her latest creation. Emmett loves watching her be creative. She gets this look on her face that is simply indescribable, so he reaches for his camera and captures the moment. For the first time in a long time he's happy. He knows it's only a matter of time until Bay is his again, in fact as far as he's concerned she is. After a particularly hot day they went to the banks of the Missouri river and sat on the small patch of grass and watched the water. It was a peaceful moment where neither of them said a word. Bay looked from the water to him and adjusted herself so she could lay her head on his lap. He ran his fingers tenderly through her dark hair. She didn't push him away, but she didn't make a move either. She simply lay there looking up at him as he ran his fingers through her hair.

Emmett understood forgiveness was something that he needed to earn, but it wasn't until that day at the river that he truly felt like Bay had finally given it to him. The following weeks seem to move at a snail's pace as they both skirted around the obvious tension in the air. Emmett was not going to make a move, he needed it to come from Bay. He'd waited this long, a little longer wasn't going to kill him. He was editing his latest pictures in photoshop when Bay came into his room with a nervous smile on her face. "What's up?"he signed to her.

"I need to talk to you?"she signed back.

"Shoot,"he said.

Bay looked at him and smiled wildly before closing the distance and grabbing his face. She kissed him until the world felt like it was spinning off its access. "I love you Emmett,"she signed before kissing him again.

By the end of July, Bay and Emmett were together again. It wasn't exactly like it once was, but Bay was happier than she'd been in a long time. Things felt right; they felt right. It had taken her over a year to get over what he'd done, but she had and now they were back. They spent hours in her make-shift art studio in her parents garage with Bay working on her latest piece as he edited something on his laptop. They loved occupying the same space. Bay put her paint brush down and sat on his lap and kissed him. He brushed her bangs from her face and admired her. "You're beautiful,"he signed.

Bay bit her lip and got up to close the garage door. She was sick of waiting. "I'm not a vegetable and neither are you,"she signed.

"Here?"he asked.

Bay nodded and slowly unbuttoned her top. He watched her carefully and a smile lit up his face. Being with Emmett was nothing like she imagined. It wasn't all flowers and candy nor was it awkward like it was with Ty. It was sweet and passionate and felt like coming home. His eyes felt like a gentle caress and his hands created a firestorm within her that only he could quench. Bay hadn't planned on doing this so quickly, but they'd been apart so long and she wanted all of him. Her desire for him was a part of who she was. He brought out a passion in her that was only matched by her love for street art. Afterwards, she holds him and laughs. "What?"he signs.

"The floor it's cold and hard."

He laughs and nuzzles her neck. In that moment Bay knows that nothing will beat this unplanned and wonderful moment. Emmett looks at her sincerely and says, "thank you forgiving me."

She touches his face and says, "thank you for waiting."


End file.
